Center asked to reduce the duties imposed on electronic goods by firms

With Make in India and Digital India campaign, companies like Dell, Lenovo says that manufacturing still expensive in country, cheaper if imported.

ET Bureau

Updated: May 20, 2016, 14:37 IST

NEW DELHI: The country's top manufacturers are demanding a level playing field with regard to manufacturing in the country vis-a-vis imports.

Top firms such as Dell, Lenovo among others are arguing that despite the Narendra Modi government's Make in India and Digital India campaign, it is still more expensive to manufacture in the country than importing from places such as China and Taiwan.

The companies through the industry body, Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) have asked the Centre to reduce the duties imposed on electronic goods such as personal computers like it was done in the case of mobile phones.

Nitin Kunkolienker, Vice President, MAIT and Director, Smart link said that the association has suggested to the government some key policy and market interventions to achieve the vision of 'Net Zero Imports'.

"Within the manufacturing sector, the growth of the IT-ESDM industry is critical for realising the goals of 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' launched by the Government, and help establish India as a worldwide PC market by 2020." He added if the right measures are taken, they have the potential to ramp up IT hardware production to $2.6 billion within a year and put India firmly on the path to becoming a global ESDM supply chain hub.

While the top demands is to reduce the excise duty from the current 12.5% to 2% like it was done in the case of mobile phones, the body has asked for other issues such as physical infrastructure and ease of doing business to be also addressed.

Jio’s Rs 2,399 annual plan offers 2GB per day data that costs effectively Rs 200 per month. It also offers unlimited voice and SMS. Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s Rs 2398 and Rs 2399 annual plans, on the other hand, offer 1.5GB per day data along with unlimited voice and SMS